FOOD CAUSED DEATH. 



country whose inhabitants we associate with sun- 

 burnt faces; a country where frosts and snows, 

 fogs, and many wet and cheerless days are hardly 

 known, and where the Frill could bask in the 

 sunshine from early morn to dewy eve. 



FOOD CAUSED DEATHS. 



I admit that when Oriental Frills were first, 

 and for some time after, imported into this 

 country, disastrous results followed. Birds 

 sickened and died. I remember Mr. Peter 

 Verdon told me that out of a consignment of 

 £300 worth he had over from Smyrna, in less 

 than a month from arrival he lost every bird ! 

 But this loss did not in the least damp his 

 ardour. The loss served to teach not only 

 himself, but other importers a lesson. Food, 

 as we all know, whether applied to birds, ani- 

 mals, or human beings, is an important factor 

 to their and our own welfare, and in the case of 

 Oriental Frills it was not so much the change of 

 climate as the change of food. The cereals 

 indigenous to the East were for the most part 

 quite different to the cereals in this country. 



I remember seeing a mixture of the corn they 

 used in Smyrna for their Pigeons, which, with the 

 exception of wild tares, was totally different to 

 anything I had ever seen, and the cost of which 

 was very little. The consequence was that birds 

 fed and reared on this kind of food could not 

 stand our English corn. The fare was too rich 



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